Carl Mandelbaum

Generally speaking, marketing ROI (return on investment) is a process of continuously improving marketing performance and profitability by applying deeper insights to maximize the effectiveness of strategic and tactical decisions.

Like everything else in our world, marketing is changing, and if you're stuck in old patterns and methods, you may be taking your business down a destructive path. Today it's all about engaging and interacting with your customers—both existing and potential—and cutting through the clutter caused by the overstimulation of marketing messages over the last several years. In order to get their attention, and keep it, you must do something different.

Larger companies are finalizing their plans for 2011, while small companies are probably just thinking about their marketing plans and budgets. It is so much better to be ahead of the curve than to play catch up at the beginning of the year. What better time to look at hot marketing trends for 2011? And, no surprise, they all have to do with online marketing.

It's that time of year again; our industry's largest annual trade show, CEDIA EXPO. You'll reconnect with old friends and colleagues, network with new ones, witness product launches first-hand, attend exciting demonstrations and, of course, party a little bit in between all the running around.

For exhibitors, trade shows are a great opportunity to enhance your brand and product visibility, promote new and existing products, generate leads and drive sales. You also stay on top of the latest industry trends, gain competitor insights, make key industry contacts and further your relationships with current customers. While that list of benefits is…

The talking heads say that the recession is over. However, the economy has yet to recover, and it may take a good bit longer than anticipated for that to happen. Often one of the first things to go in a bad economy—or at the very least have its budget slashed—is marketing and advertising.